Falling Darkness
by Sahalia im Borujin
Summary: Does not follow the original story. Bella moves to Forks and meets a the mysterious Edward Cullen who turns out to be a warrior in a war which might end the world as they know it. Better summary inside.


Hi everybody! I've been lurking around here for a while, going on forums and stuff, and I finally feel confident enough to post something! I like constructive criticism but no flames please!

Twilight is not mine. If it was then I would be snogging Edward and not writing stories :D

**Falling Darkness**

Summary: Does not follow the original story line. Bella Swan moves to Forks where she meets a mysterious boy called Edward Cullen and finds out that he's actually involved in a war between two groups of supernatural creatures which might threaten to destroy the world. It turns out that Edward works for a Warlock, and the Warlock wants Bella for something. Bella & Edward, Bella & OC, Edward & OC.

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_Atlantis. At one time, it was the greatest nation in the world. We co-existed in peace, each doing what was best for the nation. Then we got greedy. Each of us wanted Atlantis all for ourselves. We fought for that right. Fires raged. The people left in search of a less prosperous but more peaceful place to live. Only we remained because we were not about to give up the treasures of our fathers' nation. Brother killed brother. No one could trust anyone else. _

_It was night when it happened. At first, it seemed like any other earthquake but I knew better. I was in Greece negotiating an alliance. Greece was very far from Atlantis but I could see it all happening inside my head. I was seeing it through my wife's eyes. I'd left her back home so that she could look after my affairs until I got back. The land shuddered once and then with terrifying speed, the waves enveloped it. Walls of water demolished our high proud walls and magnificent towers. A wave came straight for my wife and then my vision faded and I knew she was gone. _

_I never went back. There was no point. I travelled north-west, searching for a place to conceal myself from the world. It looked like I was hiding but I was just biding my time. I knew others had survived. They were the ones who had planned it. I knew who they were. I should, because my brother was one of them. They had killed my wife and now I wanted to spill their blood as a sacrifice to her soul. _

_The glory of Atlantis ended, but the war did not._

----

Bella Swan stared out of the car window. Water ran down the glass like the tears she wanted to cry. But she couldn't let herself cry, because that would upset Charlie. Charlie was her father, and she had moved here with him so that her mother Renee could travel all over the country with her boyfriend. Already, Bella missed the searing heat of Arizona. The sun didn't come to Forks, Washington. It was always raining. This was just the first of many similar days.

She and Charlie didn't talk in the car. She didn't know what to say to him, and he didn't know what to say to her. Besides, they both enjoyed silence sometimes.

They pulled up to the house in Charlie's cruiser. "You go on in while I get your things," said Charlie.

"Are you sure?" asked Bella. "I can help."

"No, you go in," said Charlie, waving a hand at her. "It's not much." He tossed Bella the keys. They flew over her head and landed in a puddle nearby. Bella was just clumsy, with no hand-eye coordination to mention. That was why she preferred to use her mind instead. She scooped them up, shook most of the mud away, and then headed for the door.

Inside, it was dark. She felt for the light switch. A single bulb flickered in the hallway and then came on. It was just as she'd remembered it, with the simple wall paper, a few pictures of Charlie and Renee, and a little mirror with a bronze frame which Renee had picked up from a garage sale so many years ago. Bella inspected herself in that mirror. Her long brunette hair was wet and stringy. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. Sometimes, she thought she looked like a wax statue in Madame Tussaud's. She had a pointed chin and large grey eyes framed by long thick lashes. Her mouth was too big to be beautiful, and she had a narrow nose that turned up a little bit at the end. Her clothes didn't help her appearance either. Today, she was wearing old jeans and sweatshirt with shabby sneakers. Bella ran her fingers through her hair to try to put some order into it. Overall, Bella Swan did not live up to her name. She was plain, clumsy, and not particularly interesting.

"Do you want to go and see your room?" said Charlie as he came in, carrying Bella's only suitcase. She didn't bring much to Forks, since her clothes from Arizona wouldn't suit the weather in Washington at all.

"Sure," she said, not wanting to hurt Charlie's feelings. She knew what room was going to be hers. It was her old room which she'd used when she had been a baby. She followed her father up the narrow stairs. The strip of carpet lining the stairs was thin. Once a vibrant blue, it had faded over the years to a washed-out shade of grey. This being Forks, it was the only bit of carpet in the house. It would be too tiresome to get the mud off the carpets every time it rained, which was almost every day, or so Bella felt. The rest of the house had varnished wooden floors. Or rather, they had once been varnished. It looked a bit worn now. Maybe a little bit of wax would restore it.

Her room looked just the same as well, except instead of the cot, there was a small single bed –that was all the room could hold. There was a desk in the corner with a yellow-ish looking computer. The internet cable had been stapled to the wooden floor.

"I got you a new bedspread," said Charlie. "The lady at the shop picked it out for me. You like purple, don't you?" At Bella's nod, he continued. "I'll leave you to it."

Bella sat down at the end of her bed. Her bag and suitcase were on the floor but she didn't feel like unpacking. What was she doing? She didn't like Forks. Why did she move? 'I wanted to spend time with Charlie,' she told herself. After looking after Renee for so long, it was time for someone to look after her and Charlie was happy to do that.

----

Charlie had registered her in the local high school a few days before and she was starting the next day. Bella wasn't looking forward to starting school. She didn't make new friends easily and she didn't know if the people here were friendly. Back home in Arizona, people had mostly ignored her. She had been the invisible girl who walked from class to class without so much as a nod or a friendly greeting to accompany her. It hadn't been that bad, but sometimes she wished that she was not so socially awkward. If only she had been more like her mother than her father. Renee made friends so easily. Everyone liked her. She was always cheerful and fun to be with. Charlie, on the other hand, was quiet and seemed rather boring, just like Bella.

"Bella?" called Charlie from downstairs. Bella looked up from the book she was reading, Pride and Prejudice. She'd read it many times and wished that she was more like Elizabeth Bennet, strong and confident. Elizabeth wasn't clumsy either. "Bella, come downstairs and see who's here!" Charlie sounded rather excited which wasn't like him.

She set down the book. "I'll be down in a moment," she said. She unwrapped the blanket which she had thrown around her shoulders to keep herself warm. Forks was cold... much too cold for a girl who had lived in Arizona for most of her life. She threw on a jacket and zipped it right out before heading downstairs to see what was going on. She could hear voices, laughter and friendly chatter. As she rounded the corner, she saw her father talking to a man in a wheelchair. Behind that other man was a tall boy with long dark hair and tawny skin. He smiled when he saw her and his grin was so inviting that she could not help but give a small smile of her own in return.

"Do you remember Billy Black, Bella?" asked Charlie. The man in the wheel chair smiled and the white of his teeth was brilliant against his lined dark face. "We used to go fishing together." Bella didn't remember much about those fishing trips but she pretended to for the sake of politeness. She extended her hand towards Billy.

"Hello," she said. "How do you do?" Reading Jane Austen affected the way she spoke.

"Charlie, you have raised a right lady here," said Billy. He shook Bella's hand. His grip was firm and Bella was reminded of the fact that just because a man was in a wheelchair did not mean he was weak.

"You probably won't recognize Jacob. He was only tiny when you left." Jacob must be the boy pushing the wheelchair. "You two used to play naked in the water," Charlie continued.

"Dad!" protested Bella. Her face was hot and the room was not that warm. Both Billy and Charlie laughed at their children's discomfort.

"Come on outside, Bella," said Charlie. "I've got something to show you." Curious, Bella followed Billy, Charlie and Jacob outside. What could possibly get her father so excited?

Sitting in the driveway was a fire-engine red truck. It was the type which looked as if it could crash into a car, leaving the car in pieces and remain pristine with not a single scratch. "What do you think?" asked Charlie.

"It's pretty nice," ventured Bella cautiously. She didn't want to offend anyone but she couldn't see what this had to do with her, unless…

"It's yours," said Charlie, patting the hood of the car.

"Jacob replaced the engine not long ago so it's practically brand new," said Billy.

Bella couldn't speak for her surprise. Had Charlie gone and bought her a truck?

"Well, aren't you going to look inside?" said Charlie. Yes, he had gone and bought her a truck. Bella didn't need to be asked twice. She went to the driver's door, opened it and climbed in. The leather seats were clean and polished, although there was still the smell of tobacco inside. It was beautiful, and she said so.

"Thanks so much, Dad!" she said and then she flung her arms around her father. "I promise I will pay you back."

"You don't have to do that, Bella," said her father, patting her back awkwardly with one hand. Charlie wasn't so good with public displays of emotion. Usually, neither was Bella but she was ecstatic at the moment.

"But that was the deal," said Bella. "You would help me to buy my own car. I have some money saved up and everything."

"Consider this a welcoming gift, darling," said Charlie.

"And the full tank of gas is our gift to you," said Billy. "Now, don't you two want to go for a drive?" This question was directed at Bella and his son.

Bella grinned and nodded. This truck was going to make everything so much easier. Now she didn't have to worry about walking to school in the rain. This was the best thing that had happened to her in Forks so far.

"Thank you so much," she said to her father again. Jacob had already gotten into the passenger seat and strapped himself in. Bella got in behind the wheel. It felt right. The engine started on her first try and began purring loudly and merrily as if it was excited about its new ownership too. Slowly and carefully, she backed out of the drive-way, not wanting to hit a power pole on her first drive in Forks. Her father and Billy waved to them before going back inside the house to talk about whatever they talked about when their kids weren't there.

At first, they drove in silence, and then Jacob tentatively struck up a bit of conversation. "So, you starting school tomorrow?" he said.

"Yeah," said Bella. It was her turn to say something now. "How old are you?"

Jacob grinned. "I'm fifteen," he replied. "Yeah, I know I look older because of my height."

Bella soon found out that Jacob didn't go to her school. She was disappointed because she had been hoping to see at least one friendly face there. They drove around the neighbourhood for a bit and then returned to Bella's house. Billy was already waiting for Jacob.

"He's a nice boy, that Jacob Black," said Charlie once their guests had gone.

"Yeah, he is," said Bella. "And I really love the truck, dad. Thanks."

"You're welcome," said Charlie. That conversation filled up the rest of their night. Bella made Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner and then she went upstairs to her room where she read until she was tired enough to fall asleep.

----

Edward did not sleep. He didn't need to because of what he was. Instead, he continued to work on his report. His hand moved so quickly that it looked like lines of perfect handwriting were just appearing on the page. The report had to be done by morning because that was when his partner, the warlock Ray Damerell, left for Germany to meet with the man who ran the society.

Edward's boss, Balthez im Borujin, was a man who was so old that no one knew when he was born and he never told anyone either. Edward had only seen him a few times when he had actually needed to go to Germany. He and his family, as well as Ray, had been stationed in Forks, Washington, two years ago when the enemy had looked like they had wanted to establish a foothold in America. Other covens had been sent to small towns around the country although vampire covens were only sent to places with very little sun. Edward didn't mind Forks. It was nice enough with all its greenery. The town was small and generally suspicious of outsiders but as usual, his family won them over with their charm and the local hospital really needed his adoptive father Carlisle.

Suddenly he got up and opened the window. An owl flew in and hooted once. Then the bird grew in size and as it grew, it lost its feathers and its shape changed until it had become a naked man with dark skin, curly black hair and bright green eyes.

"Ray," said Edward. He wasn't surprised by his partner's nakedness. Ray always ended up naked after changing back from whatever shape he had decided to take. Birds were his favourite.

"Aren't you going to give me something to wear?" Ray asked. Without saying anything, Edward went over to his wardrobe, pulled out a pair of black trousers and tossed them at the warlock. Ray and Edward wore the same size clothes so it was very convenient.

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked his partner after the warlock finished putting on the piece of clothing.

"I just spoke with Lord Balthez," said Ray. "He wants me to leave right away because there is a meeting. You don't have to go because one of us has to stay here but if you want to get that report to him on time then you'd better give it to me now."

"Did he actually use the phone this time?" asked Edward.

"You know he didn't," said Ray. "We can't pass on complicated messages with telepathy but it works with small messages. He sounded quite impatient when we spoke."

"If he's that worried then maybe he should come out of retirement," said Edward. "I haven't seen him for the last fifty years."

"Dude, what do you think he's doing then?" asked Ray. "He's calling a meeting and he hasn't done that for fifty years so that means he is coming out of retirement."

"Is that a meeting for all field agents or just warlocks?" asked Edward. He sat down at his desk. The report was completed within five minutes. He looked over it once, stapled the pages together and then handed everything to the half-naked warlock.

"It's a meeting for council members and selected field agents," said Ray as he snatched the report from Edward's hands. "Dude, he asked you to write a report, not a novel."

"I prefer to be thorough," said Edward. "That's what he asked me to do."

"You just wish you can be promoted so you can go to meetings in Germany too," said Ray. "At least you know you won't have to do it again because it isn't good enough."

"Don't you have a flight to catch?" Edward asked. Ray liked to talk. A lot.

"Dude, it's a private plane," said Ray. "Being a field agent might mean many bad things but it also means you can travel in style. Oh, by the way, have fun in school tomorrow."

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